A-P boys, D-NH girls win rivalry games in Dike

DIKE – Senior leadership carried the Aplington-Parkersburg boys basketball team to a 75-63 victory over Dike-New Hartford in Dike on Tuesday in a showdown between two teams that entered the night with matching 4-0 records.

A-P junior Carter Cuvelier and senior Grant Truax each scored 18 points for the Falcons (5-0, 3-0 NICL East) and seniors Coby Hoff and Alec Oberhauser added 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The Falcons led for most of the second half but had their lead shrink to 53-51 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. From there, A-P went on a game-changing 12-2 run, fueled by four three-pointers from three different A-P shooters.

"We were shooting the ball in rhythm instead of settling for 3s," A-P head coach Aaron Thomas said. "Early in the game, we took some 3s where maybe we should've moved and attacked more but the kids were energetic out there tonight. … We got some senior leaders to step up and made some big stops and were able to finish."

D-NH's last lead was 37-35 late in the second quarter, erased by buckets from Cuvelier and Truax before the half.

Turnovers hurt the Wolverines down the stretch after about three quarters of solid play, responding well to A-P's scoring runs for most of the game leading up to the final quarter.

"We've got to cut down turnovers against a team like this," D-NH coach Greg Moore said. "We had some wasted or bad possessions, but then we had a two-point game and a chance to go ahead in the fourth quarter, so we had our opportunities."

SLIDESHOW: A-P at D-NH basketball

DIKE – Ellie Foster figured it could be a rough start for the Dike-New Hartford girls basketball team last Tuesday.

Instead, the Wolverines showcased their biggest strengths, shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and defeating Aplington-Parkersburg 65-42 in Dike.

Foster scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines, with Morgan Weber adding 15 points and Katie Knock contributing 11 points for D-NH, winners of six consecutive games and picking up the big victory in the A-P/DNH rivalry.

"I thought with such a large crowd, our team might get frazzled in the beginning," Foster said. "But we were focused in on our shooting."

D-NH outscored A-P 20-3 in the first quarter and led 41-22 at halftime.

"We knew coming in this would probably be the best team we play all year," A-P head coach Jason Berkey said. "All five of their starting girls are great athletes and we've gotta give them credit, they made baskets and we lost them (on defense) a few times."

Read more in the Dec. 20 Eclipse.